Search Results for: www.brambleberry.com

Bite Me Not Lotion Bar

May 31, 2012 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials

Summer is the season of days by the pool, nights by the barbecue, and (queue scary music) mosquitoes! Keep the bugs away without synthetic chemicals this summer by making your own all natural “bug off” lotion bar. We’ve custom blended some essential oils to keep bugs away and keep you smelling great all summer long. Apply the lotion bar to your legs and arms and let the bugs beware!

Buy everything you need in the click of a button!

(remember you can always add or delete items from your shopping cart if needed) [Read more…]

Aloha Mold Promotional Code

May 30, 2012 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Happy summer! It’s time for another Aloha Soap Mold promotional coupon code. Did someone say coupon code? Do we have your attention now? This summer’s code will get you 30% off any of our Aloha Molds (See them all here). Please go to our Facebook page to get the promotional coupon code. If you’re not an official fan yet, you’ll have to “like” our page in order to view the coupon code. Hey…it’s totally worth it for 30% off some super cute molds!

The soaps pictured above were made with Clear Melt and Pour, Tangerine Wow Colorant, Electric Bubble Gum Colorant, Fizzy Lemonade Colorant, Luster black Mica and Super Pearly White Mica. Scented with Pikake Flower Fragrance Oil. If you have ever been to Hawaii and love the tropical floral smell when you first step off the plane, then you will LOVE this fragrance oil. [Read more…]

New Soapylove Tropical Kit

May 29, 2012 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Bramble Berry is thrilled to announce the latest and greatest Soapylove Kit featuring tropical colors and a fragrance oil that will send your mind to an island getaway! Debbie Chialtas, the founder of Soapylove, designed this exclusive kit just for Bramble Berry customers. See more of Soapylove products on the Bramble Berry website. Debbie also has done quite a few innovative and inspirational tutorials for the Soap Queen blog. You can find them all here.

Island Style Soap Colorant Kit: Transport yourself to the tropical islands with the Soapylove Island Style Kit! Inspired by vibrant tones found in flowers, foliage, and the wonderful sunshine. Mix and match to create your own color fantasy! For even more of a getaway enjoy the delicious fragrance of Guava Shave Ice, included in this deluxe kit. Click HERE to get your Island Style Soap Colorant Kit (before they fly off the shelves for summer)!

The tropical colors scheme just screamed to be used in the Soapylove Rainbow Mold! They’re super cute in solid colors or you can get creative and lightly color each individual rainbow stripe. The island inspired soap colorants are dyes that are specifically designed to be bright, happy and easy to use in melt and pour soap. Enjoy blending Aloha Yellow, Purple Paradise and Orchid Pink in your tropical creations. Now, I know what you’re thinking, dyes usually bleed in melt and pour soap. You are correct. In the soap above, we used such a tiny amount of the colorant that it didn’t bleed (and still hasn’t bled after two weeks- score!) . Keep your eyes peeled for a tutorial to come on the delightful rainbow soap above!

Check out the entire SoapyLove Line HERE!

SWI is Full and Jamisen is Mobile

May 28, 2012 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

We made the most of our Memorial Day. While hiking to Clayton Beach, Chris and I told Jamisen all about Memorial Day (and if the link I gave you yesterday didn’t have you tearing up enough, this is an even better narrative about the emotional costs of war). Jamisen listened quietly and seemed to appreciate the gravity of the message. After all the talking, he was delighted to be let down to crawl around the beach. It was his first experience wit the sand and he went for it – crawling all over and generally showing a fiercely independent streak.

[Read more…]

Making Sunshine Cold Process Soap

May 24, 2012 Filed Under: Cold Process Soap

Today’s episode is a 4 pound cold process recipe scented with 10X Orange Essential Oil and Yuzu Fragrance Oil. It’s a bright, effervescent and citrusy combination. I’m also going to show you how to use the Vertical Soap Mold, which is a great way to add variety to your cold process recipes. I split the batch and added Calendula petals to one half and Fizzy Lemonade Colorant to the other half, giving it a natural and bright look.

If you have never made cold process soap, stop right now and watch the first four videos on cold process soapmaking. It’s important to learn how to safely use lye safely and get a couple of basic recipes under your belt before you dive into the vertical mold soap, which is an advanced technique.

Learn to Make Sunshine Soap with Orange and Calendula from Soap Queen on Vimeo.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Soap Recipe:
1.3 oz Castor Oil
17.6 oz Coconut Oil
4.4 oz Palm Oil
17.6 oz Rice Bran Oil
3 oz Shea Butter
6.2 oz Lye
14.5 oz Distilled Water

Colors, Additives and Scents:
1/4 oz Calendula Petals
2 oz Yuzu Fragrance Oil
1 teaspoon Fizzy Lemonade Colorant
9 ml oil from the batch
2 oz Orange 10X Essential Oil

Vertical Wood Mold

Get everything you need to make this soap here.

LaBomb Colorants!

May 22, 2012 Filed Under: Bath Fizzies

Welcome back to Talk It Out Tuesday! Today we’ll be answering some frequently asked questions about Bramble Berry’s LaBomb colorants which are specifically made to color your bath bombs with ease and flare.

What is a bath bomb?

A bath bomb, also known as a bath fizzy, is basically a mixture of baking soda and citric acid. You can also add fragrance oil, witch hazel and other fun additives like fixed oils, clays and SLS to add bubbles. When the bath bomb is dropped into the tub it fizzes and spins to release fragrance and skin-softening goodness. Bath bombs are easy to make in all sorts of shapes and scents, and you can even make them into realistic-looking cupcakes! Best of all, bath bombs are family-friendly, fun to make and even more fun to use. [Read more…]

Natural Colorants for Melt and Pour Soap

May 21, 2012 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

For those of you who are going all-natural and are looking for some colorant options that aren’t dull gray, green or brown, try these! You’ll be surprised how vibrant some natural pigments can be!

Activated Charcoal: Creates a solid black without having to use much pigment. Mixes in easily like a mica. Works great in melt-and-pour and cold process.

Kaolin Clay: More typically used in mineral makeup than as a soap colorant, but I tried it anyway. Very clumpy unless you break it down in a liquid first. Notice it looks slightly pink in the image; that’s because I had a little rose clay left on my spoon! Oops. Titanium dioxide is another great whitening agent.

Rose Clay: Lovely pink in both cold process and melt-and-pour. Needs to be broken down in a liquid first or you will be fishing for clumps. Rose clay is a mild Kaolin Clay.

Safflower Powder: Makes a gorgeous yellow in cold process and melt-and-pour. Another pigment that should be broken down first in liquid because of its clumpy nature. I like the little flecks that are visible in this clear base!

Spirulina: Also known as Kelp and smells very fishy. I add a strong essential oil (like peppermint or lime) to this layer to mask the scent. Needs to be broken down in liquid and tends to leave flecks of pigment. Try pouring your colored melt-and-pour soap through a sifter or strainer to catch lumps of color.

For even more colorant options and infusing tips and tricks, make sure to read this book on infusing herbs. [Read more…]

Easy Whipped Shaving Soap Recipe

May 17, 2012 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials

Father’s day is June 17th. Do you need a gift idea? This shaving soap recipe couldn’t be easier using our foaming bath whip with a couple additional ingredients. The foaming bath whip is a very gentle and versatile base (check out our favorite fluffy frosting recipe and sugar scrub). The bath whip has a great lather and a super creamy and and bubbly texture in the shower (ladies – you’ll love this for leg shaving). This easy recipe whips up a luxurious and soothing shaving soap with chamomile extract to help soothe Dad’s face. It’s scented with Blue Man Fragrance Oil which is perfectly sweet and masculine (base notes of Black Patchouli blended with Orange Peel, Sparkling Mandarin, Coriander Leaves, Star Anise and Venezuela Tonka).

[Read more…]

Avoid Pesky Air Bubbles in CP

May 16, 2012 Filed Under: Cold Process Soap

Have you ever heard the term “burping your blender?” and then wondered what that means and how it applies to soapmaking? It’s a super easy trick that I do every time I make cold process soap that helps prevent air bubbles in your CP soap. Try it on your next batch. You won’t regret “burping”. I promise!

The cold process soap pictured above is a gorgeous combination of Brown Oxide, Yellow Oxide, Ultramarine Blue, Hydrate Chrome Green and Black Oxide. It’s scented with an earthy combination of Patchouli and Spearmint. There is just one problem…those darn air bubbles! Either the trace was too thick when it was poured or (cough cough) ‘someone‘ didn’t burp their stick blender. Here’s how you burp your stick blender to avoid those pesky bubbles in your soap.

Burping: Before you turn the stick blender on to mix the oils and lye together, gently tap the stick blender on the bottom of the of your container until you see all of the air bubbles come out. Do you see that big air bubble below? You’ll be glad you didn’t whip that air into your soap when you cut the final bars.

Check out that monster air bubble surfacing!

Other Tricks: When combining my oils and lye I also like to pour the lye down the side of my stick blender. By letting the lye run down the side of the blender, you eliminate any splashes that could cause air bubbles. Kat from Otion also suggest keeping your temperatures on the lower side. She finds that super hot soap can cause the soap to bubble a little bit. Check out the lye and burping tricks in this episode of Soap Queen TV (you can fast forward to minute 3:50 to see the action). And if you have never made cold process soap, check out the series for beginners here!

How do you avoid air bubbles? Do you have any other ideas?

Post Guild Report and Catch Up

May 15, 2012 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

It’s definitely a change being back home after a jam packed week of soap guild fun.Yesterday was a hectic (but awesome) day at the BB office after being away for practically an entire week. Despite the fact that we’re all playing catch up, the trip was totally worth it. Amber, Courtney, Kat and I had the best time together. We bonded and laughed in the van to and from Portland and were super giddy to meet some of our customers at the Bramble Berry booth (thank you to those who stopped by- it was fun to meet you!). The only downfall was being apart from Jamisen and my hubby Chris, luckily Facetime on the iPhone saved the day. There’s nothing cuter thank your kid trying to kiss you through the phone. Thank you technology!

Our 15 passenger van left the Bramble Berry warehouse last Tuesday at 6 am with our beautiful wood display carefully packed in the back (the brainchild of awesome Brambleberrians Amber and Norman). We pulled into the Red Lion Inn in Portland Oregon about 12 noon and we were on the go for the rest of the conference! I blogged on Thursday from the conference so if you missed it, check out the post here. You don’t want to miss some of the beautiful soaps from the Soaper’s Showcase or the fun Casino Night that Bramble Berry co-hosted with Debby May from Wholesale Supplies Plus. I lost a lot of fake money that night gambling. Oy! [Read more…]

Oodles of New Products!

May 14, 2012 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

It has been a little while since we’ve done a “What’s New” post and there are many new products to report on, including a new book on making milk soap from scratch. It has been months in the making so we’re super excited to share it with you. It covers making all types of milk soap – from cow milk to hemp milk to goat milk – the book has techniques you can use with a wide variety of milks.

Making Milk Soap from Scratch Book [Read more…]

Goat Milk Soap Mold Debut!

May 11, 2012 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Raise your hand if you were at the Handcrafted Soapmaker’s Guild Conference in Portland, Oregon. Whoop de whoop! We hope you had a chance to see these soaps in person (and gave them a sniff). We used the Goat Milk Melt and Pour Soap base with Fresh Snow Fragrance Oil and Activated Charcoal for colorant. Oh, and how could I forget, we used our brand new Goat Milk Soap Mold that we designed just for you milk lovers. Got goat milk?

Ingredients

Goat Milk Mold

Bulk Goats Milk Soap Base

Fresh Snow Fragrance Oil

Activated Charcoal [Read more…]

Our Displays for the Soap Guild Conference

May 8, 2012 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

We have been hard at work on our Handcrafted Soapmaker’s Guild annual conference display for the last few months. First came the visioning and sketching process. We knew we couldn’t bring all of our products so we carefully planned out what we wanted to bring and then designed the displays around the products we wanted to showcase. It was hard figuring out what products made the cut (because, of course, they’re all our favorites).

Before we finalized the plans, we made the entire display as a mini model out of foam core boards. Our ratio was 1/2″ to 1 foot. We have the cutest little dollhouse display (that is, if you’re into staging retail stores instead of playing house). [Read more…]